This Week In 1995: Cowboys Escape Minneapolis With Overtime Win

Emmitt Smith's 31-yard touchdown sealed a 23-17 win for the Cowboys in Minnesota last night. The Vikings fall to 1-2 on the year while the Cowboys move to 3-0.

The game-winner was one of two touchdowns for Smith, the other a 2-yard jaunt that gave the Cowboys a 16-10 lead in the 4th quarter. Smith rushed for 150 yards on 20 attempts on the day.

Dallas opened the scoring with six minutes remaining in the first quarter. Defensive tackle Leon Lett recovered a fumble by Vikings quarterback Warren Moon on the Minnesota 14-yard line. The next play was a 19-yard pass from quarterback Troy Aikman to wide receiver Michael Irvin. Irvin recorded eight receptions for 107 yards, his second 100+ yard effort of the year. Chris Boniol's PAT was no good, leaving the Cowboys with a 6-0 lead.

The Vikings got on the board with the following drive, going 43 yards on eight plays, ending in a 42-yard field goal by Fuad Reveiz. Smith fumbled on the first play following the kickoff, giving Minnesota the ball back on the Dallas 26-yard line. Minnesota took the 10-6 lead six plays later when Moon completed a 3-yard pass to receiver Jake Reed for the touchdown.

Dallas cut the Minnesota lead to one with seven minutes to go in the half on a 39-yard field goal by Boniol. The Vikings tried to answer on the next drive, but Reveiz's 48-yard field goal was no good. Aikman led the Cowboys down to the Minnesota 6-yard line before the half, but could not find the end zone to take the lead.

The score remained 10-9 Minnesota until the 4th quarter when the Cowboys retook the lead on Smith's first touchdown of the game. Tight end Jay Novacek found the end zone on the two-point conversion, giving Dallas a 17-10 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.

A Dallas three-and-out with three minutes remaining resulted in a 33-yard punt by John Jett and gave Minnesota the ball near midfield. Eight plays later, the Vikings tied the game at 17 on an 8-yard touchdown to wide receiver Cris Carter.

The Cowboys received the ball first in overtime.

The drive began at the Dallas 27-yard line. Aikman completed a 22-yard pass to Irvin to give the Cowboys a first down at the Dallas 49-yard line. On 3rd-and-6, Cory Fleming caught a 16-yard pass from Aikman, giving Dallas a first down at the Minnesota 31, setting up Smith's game-winning 31-yard touchdown.

Aikman was 24-38 for 246 yards and one touchdown while Moon went 22-38 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

Next week the Cowboys return home again and will take on the divisional foe Arizona Cardinals, who are 1-2 after defeating the Detroit Lions yesterday afternoon in Michigan.

QB Dak Prescott Continues To Come Through In Clutch Situations

Dak Prescott is possibly the most criticized quarterback in all of football.

Of course, this comes with the territory of being the Cowboys starting quarterback, but each throw Prescott attempts is placed under an intense microscope, even by NFL standards. We analyze every snap of every game, looking to find where Dak was right or wrong with this reads.

There's no question, though, that Prescott has been inconsistent throughout his young career. Week to week, drive to drive, and even play to play, we seemingly have no gauge on just how Dak Prescott will perform.

One scenario where we can say with confidence he will come through, however, is when it matters most. Last Sunday, in yet another must-win game for the Dallas Cowboys, Prescott orchestrated a game winning drive to lead his team over the favored Atlanta Falcons.

The Cowboys offense was pedestrian for much of the afternoon, but when Prescott got the ball in a tied game, I felt confident he would give Brett Maher a chance to win the game. Even on the road, and even after the offense had struggled a bit through the air all day.

Prescott got the ball late in the fourth quarter, looking to answer former NFL MVP Matt Ryan's game tying touchdown strike to Julio Jones. Dak went for it all on the first play, looking for Michael Gallup deep down the sideline, but the ball fell incomplete. After that throw, Prescott went 4/5 for 45 yards, including a huge completion to Cole Beasley, putting Dallas in game winning field goal range.

This confidence in Dak Prescott is justified, as is shown by his numbers in late game situations. Prescott now has 12 game winning drives, tying him for the league lead over the last three seasons. For comparison sake, Eagles starter Carson Wentz has just 3 game winning drives over that same stretch.

Overall the box score shows a rather quiet day for Prescott, but it was exactly the kind of Sunday they need from him. He completed over 60% of his passes, ran for a touchdown, and avoided the key turnover which could have sung this close game.

He played efficient football, and gave the Cowboys a chance to win it late. Then, he did what he does best, making plays in clutch situations and coming through in the 2 minute drill.

For all of Dak Prescott's flaws, those end-of-half and end-of-game situations have been a clear strength for the young quarterback, and continued to be this week.

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Sack Numbers Don’t Tell DeMarcus Lawrence’s 2018 Story

Coming off of a career year in 2017, many fans expected DeMarcus Lawrence to continue his ridiculous sack production this season. After all, he is once again in a "contract year" due to the franchise tag, and fans are hoping the Cowboys can secure him longterm this offseason.

Through the first four games of 2018, Lawrence looked as ridiculous and unstoppable as ever. He had 5.5 sacks, tied for the league lead, and was dictating the pass protection schemes of every offense the Cowboys were facing.

Since that hot start, though, DeMarcus Lawrence has recorded just 1 sack, falling behind some of the league leaders he was once ahead of. This has some people scratching their heads and wondering if Lawrence's career year in 2017 was just that, a career year. One which he will never replicate again, and one which the Cowboys should factor out when talking contract extensions.

Here's why those people are wrong.

Let's first talk about what makes DeMarcus Lawrence so good, and then we'll get into the full context of the Cowboys defense and how that explains some of the drop in sacks.

Lawrence, unlike some of the league's other top pass rushers, is a complete 4-3 defensive end. He is one of, if not the best run defending defensive ends in football, as shown by his 12 tackles for loss on the season (only Aaron Donald and Danielle Hunter have more).

Much of the year, the Cowboys run defense has boiled down to Lawrence making splash plays, as we saw against the Washington Redskins. Adrian Peterson was gashing the Cowboys during that game, and the only one who did anything to stop him was DeMarcus Lawrence, as indicated by his 3 tackles for loss that Sunday.

There's also the point that 6.5 sacks through half the season is, well, good. It's really good! And when you couple his sack numbers with his solid pressure and QB hit stats, you can see that Lawrence is having a very good season.

Then there is the context of this entire Cowboys defense, specifically their defensive line and pass rush. To put it bluntly, DeMarcus Lawrence has been their only consistent rusher this season. Though we came into the year with high hopes for Randy Gregory, and cautious optimism about first round pick Taco Charlton, neither have been all that impressive this season.

Somebody, anybody, has to step up and become a threat opposite of Lawrence. David Irving could help matters with his interior pass rush ability, but he has been unavailable for basically the entire season.

Without another pass rusher for offense's to even think twice about, Lawrence is getting double teamed and/or chipped by a tight end or running back on just about every rush. It's becoming rare that Lawrence is in a true one-on-one pass rush situation.

Of course, if you are elite, offenses are going to shift protections to you in this way and you still have to find ways to be productive.